Luxury, tourist and cruise train news – Page 2

  • The Staycation Express has returned for 2021 with a six days a week service on the Settle – Carlisle line (Photo: Tony Miles).
    Rail Business UK

    Staycation Express returns for 2021 season

    2021-07-23T11:27:00Z

    UK: Following last year’s successful launch the Staycation Express has returned for 2021 with a six days a week service on the Settle – Carlisle line from July 19 to September 9. This year the rolling stock is a dedicated 2+5 HST set which features all first ...

  • RCS Power Car TM 020321
    Rail Business UK

    Settle & Carlisle ‘Staycation Express’ to run again in 2021

    2021-03-04T06:11:00Z

    UK: Rail Charter Services has confirmed that it intends to repeat the regular excursion trains it operated last summer over the Settle & Carlisle route through North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

  • Luxury train operator Rocky Mountaineer has announced plans to launch a two-day ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ rail journey between Denver in Colorado and Moab in Utah
    News

    Rocky Mountaineer announces ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ luxury train

    2020-11-20T16:33:00Z

    USA: Luxury train operator Rocky Mountaineer has announced plans to launch a two-day ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ rail journey between Denver in Colorado and Moab in Utah during 2021. Passengers would stay overnight at a hotel in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The new service will be in ...

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    News

    Coast-to-coast cruise train crosses Africa

    2019-08-07T12:37:29Z

    INTERNATIONAL: On August 2 a passenger train set out on the return leg of a coast-to-coast trip across Africa. Departing from the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast and bound for the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean, the train had arrived in Lobito on ...

  • The first four of 10 custom-designed Stadler double-deck dome cars are to enter service with Rocky Mountaineer shortly.
    News

    Rocky Mountaineer expands dome car fleet

    2019-04-26T11:15:00Z

    CANADA: The first four of 10 custom-designed double-deck dome cars which high-end tourist train operator Rocky Mountaineer has ordered from Stadler are expected to enter service shortly, operating from Vancouver to Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff during the 2019 tourist season. Rocky Mountaineer said the order placed in May ...

  • VMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Belmond
    News

    LVMH buys luxury train operator

    2018-12-18T10:14:00Z

    INTERNATIONAL: High-end wine, fashion, cosmetics, hotel and retail group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotel, restaurant, train and cruise brands including the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, British Pullman, Royal Scotsman, Grand Hibernian, Andean Explorer, Hiram Bingham and ...

  • SNCF and AccorHotels have signed an agreement to exploit the Orient Express brand (Photo: SNCF/Lola Hakimian).
    News

    SNCF and AccorHotels to develop the Orient Express brand

    2017-10-05T12:31:19Z

    FRANCE: An agreement to exploit the SNCF-owned Orient Express brand within the global luxury hospitality sector was signed by the French national railway and AccorHotels on October 4. AccorHotels plans to develop a chain of hotels under the Orient Express name, and is to acquire a 50% stake in ...

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    News

    Belmond Andean Explorer launched

    2017-05-16T10:47:21Z

    PERU: Hotel and cruise train operator Belmond launched what it describes as ‘South America’s first luxury sleeper train’ on May 4. Operating on the PeruRail network between Cusco and Arequipa, the Belmond Andean Explorer offers a two-night journey through ‘some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world’, its large ...

  • West Japan Railway's Twilight Express Mizukaze luxury cruise train (Photo: Akihiro Nakamura).
    News

    Twilight Express Mizukaze to launch next month

    2017-05-13T06:00:00Z

    JAPAN: West Japan Railway is to launch the Twilight Express Mizukaze (fresh breeze) luxury cruise train in June, adopting a similar concept to JR East’s Train Suite Shiki-Shima. With five one night or two-night itineraries, the luxury 10-car train will give up to 30 passengers the opportunity to travel to ...

  • Passengers board the champagne-liveried Train Suite Shiki-Shima via the lounge car where the windows are designed to resemble trees in a forest  (Photo: Akihiro Nakamura).
    News

    Shiki-Shima luxury cruise train launches

    2017-05-04T15:05:32Z

    JAPAN: East Japan Railway welcomed the first passengers aboard the Train Suite Shiki-Shima (Island of Four Seasons) luxury cruise train for a tour of eastern and northern Japan starting on May 1. Passengers board the champagne-liveried 10-car train via the lounge car where the windows are designed to resemble trees ...

  • The Train Suite Shiki-Shima crosses the Tamagawa bridge on the Chuo line in Tokyo during a test run on December 10 (Photo: Kazumiki Miura).
    News

    Shiki-Shima luxury cruise train on test

    2016-12-25T06:00:00Z

    JAPAN: East Japan Railway is testing a luxury cruise train ahead of its planned launch on May 1. Known as the Train Suite Shiki-Shima (Island of Four Seasons), and bearing the designation Series E001, the 10-car set has an observation car at each end offering passengers unobstructed panoramic views. Three ...

  • The Belmond Grand Hibernian is to be launched on August 30.
    News

    Belmond Grand Hibernian refurbishment completed

    2016-08-04T14:39:00Z

    IRELAND: Luxury hotel and cruise operator Belmond is to launch its seventh train on August 30, having taken delivery of 10 former Iarnród Éireann MkIII coaches which have been refurbished to form a ‘country house on wheels’ which will offer two, four and six-night tours. The refurbishment was undertaken in ...

  • Tiger Express tourist train.
    News

    Indian Railways launches Tiger Express tourist train

    2016-06-11T05:00:00Z

    INDIA: The first Tiger Express tourist train was flagged off by Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu using teleconferencing facilities as part of the World Environment Day celebrations on June 5. The Tiger Express is operated by Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp using a dedicated rake of air-conditioned coaches with ...

  • Impression of Stadler Rail dome car for the Rocky Mountaineer service.
    News

    Rocky Mountaineer orders luxury dome cars from Stadler

    2016-05-11T14:24:00Z

    CANADA: Luxury tourist train operator Rocky Mountaineer has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 10 new double-deck dome cars from 2018. ‘We are constantly looking for ways to improve our guest experience which is the core of our business’, said Rocky Mountaineer President Steve Sammut on May 11. ‘The ...

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    News

    Rovos Rail buys Shongololo Express

    2016-03-02T06:00:00Z

    SOUTH AFRICA: Luxury cruise train operator Rovos Rail has completed the purchase of the Shongololo Express, taking over 19 coaches and agreeing to employ all of the staff. Shongololo Express operates three routes from Pretoria, with the Southern Cross to Victoria Falls and Dune Express to Swakopmund ...

  • The Belmond Grand Hibernian train will offer 'the first luxury overnight rail experience of its kind in Ireland'.
    News

    Belmond to launch Irish land cruise train

    2014-11-06T12:07:00Z

    IRELAND: Luxury hotel, river cruise and train operator Belmond has announced plans to launch a land cruise train in Ireland in summer 2016. The company said Belmond Grand Hibernian would be ‘the first luxury overnight rail experience of its kind in Ireland’, with two, four and six-night trips visiting destinations ...

  • East Japan Railway Toreiyu luxury trainset.
    News

    Footbath luxury in Yamagata Shinkansen trainset

    2014-07-14T06:00:00Z

    JAPAN: East Japan Railway will put into service a luxury trainset on its Yamagata Shinkansen with effect from July 19, as part of an ongoing programme to refresh the line’s fleet of mini-shinkansen trainsets. Known as Toreiyu from a combination of Train + Soleil, the six-car trainset has been rebuilt ...

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    News

    Tibet cruise train financed

    2008-04-09T04:55:00Z

    CHINA: HSH Nordbank has completed a deal with RailPartners to finance the Tangula luxury trains which will run from Beijing to Yunnan and Lhasa from September (RG 8.07 p492). The bank is providing US$30m of the US$95m project financing, with RailPartners shareholders including TZG Holdings of Shanghai and Hong Kong ...

  • News

    Blue Train and train blues

    2008-01-19T06:14:00Z

    SERBIA'S Ministry of Defence is to sell a saloon car from the Blue Train, the fleet of luxury rolling stock built for President Tito. The Blue Train was subsequently used by the presidents of Yugoslavia and their state visitors, and in recent years has been available for private charter. ...

  • Tibet.
    News

    Tangula Railtours launching luxury train to Tibet

    2007-08-30T09:54:00Z

    Tangula Railtours has placed contracts for three five-star cruise trains offering luxury travel over the world's highest railway